Phantom Blade Online
by Commando2341
Summary: Ken, a VRMMORPG enthusiast, is desperate to play Phantom Blade Online again. However, he should be careful what he wishes for. SAO/GGO crossover, OC's, and characters from SAO, GGO and Mother's Rosario. Continued with the kindness of Tellhim8Inches.
1. Origins

**A/N Hey everyone. Commando here with my first story, a crossover of GGO and SAO. Original idea for the story is courtesy of Tellhim8inches, who has graciously given me permission to continue it. As of right now, there will be pairings, both canon and non-canon, as well as OC characters. Rating is T for now, may change to M. I increased the population of Phantom Blade to 25,000.**

 **Bold text is indicative of system announcements or an A/N.**

' _Italicized text is indicative of character thoughts.'_

"Quotes indicate regular dialogue."

All rights belonging to Reki Kawahara.

 **Phantom Blade Online**

 **Chapter 1: Origins**

12:55, November 6th, 2022

Sighing, Katsu Moyomo stared at the metal helmet, the Nerve Gear, before him. Ever since the beta test of the first VRMMORPG, Phantom Blade Online ended six months ago, a physical hole had opened in his life which could only be filled by the aforementioned game. That hole would soon be filled, as the servers were due to start at precisely 1:00 p.m that day.

' _Argus are light-years ahead of the competition in the VR market. Kayaba Akihiko is an unparalleled genius, with the way that PBO utilises the Nerve Gear's hardware fully. No other game developers were able to even come close to PBO's graphics and physics systems…_

 _What sort of acronym is PBO, anyways? Sounds like some sort of peanut butter brand. Phantom Blade sounds much better.'_

Katsu glanced back to the clock. 12:58 p.m. The second hand marched remorselessly onwards, not speeding up no matter how hard Ken wished it would. He contented himself with the knowledge that 25,000 people were most likely doing the same thing as he was at that point, judging by the extreme measures people went to in order to obtain copies of Phantom Blade. Being a beta-tester, he was provided one for free, but the remaining 20,000 copies were sought by hundreds of thousands of people, with queues reaching over a thousand people in some instances.

The clock finally reached 1:00 p.m. Katsu, having pre-calibrated the Nerve Gear due to his time in the beta, instantly put on the Nerve Gear and uttered the words that would soon be hated worldwide, without exception.

"Link Start!"

Instantly, his world burst into an explosion of colour, the login screen for Phantom Blade. Katsu was prepared to blitz through the character creation stage, but as he was starting the process, a robotic voice interrupted him.

" **Greetings player, would you like to use the character data from the beta test?"**

' _How convenient of them. I'll be able to start almost immediately with this feature.'_

Katsu confirmed that he would take his beta data and was immediately transported to the spawn point, the Town of Beginnings. He took a moment, revelling in the feel of his character, Ken. He had kept it to be relatively close to his actual body. In real life, Katsu was 6', with black hair, lithe and flexible, owing to his martial arts upbringing. His facial features were sharply defined, with angular cheekbones, a clean jawline and prominent chin, giving him a slightly haughty appearance that contrasted both his demeanour and his common upbringing. Perhaps his most interesting physical feature was his heterochromia: his right eye was an azure blue whilst his left eye was a verdant green. He had opted to omit this from his online persona due to the moderate bullying he had received during his early years. Despite this having tailed off in recent years, they were still a touchy subject for him. In game, his character was a few inches taller, dressed in a plain navy blue shirt and white trousers, with black hair and blue eyes.

From the beta, Ken knew that he would be a hybrid build of melee and ranged, with focus on melee, and hence went to the nearest weapons store to purchase his preferred weapons: a Long Sword and a M1911 Colt , the two basic weapons for their classes: Long Swords and Pistols, respectively. He purchased five additional magazines for the Colt in addition to the fifteen complimentary ones. These purchases drained most of his Col, the currency of Phantom Blade Online, to 150 from the 1500 provided to each character upon spawn. After this, he opened his character profile and equipped the skills that he knew would be his primary skills: One-handed Sword and Pistol. He then spent his Skill points obtained at level 1, putting 3 into AGI and 2 into STR . Ken knew he was lucky to be early: the store only sold 15 Photon Swords and was the only location in the Town of Beginnings to sell them at all. He decided against spending the rest of his money on Health Potions as the enemies outside the Town of Beginnings were simplistic, and held little threat to the player. Despite this, they still provided experience and col, so with a resigned sigh Ken headed off to start grinding mobs, the feeling that MMO players around the world knew. However, the monotony of farming would be broken this time, as he heard rapidly approaching footsteps.

Turning, Ken collided with two players, after which the three immediately proceeded to fall over in an unglamorous heap on the ground, drawing chuckles from surrounding players.

Ken extracted himself from the knot of bodies and assisted the other two up, after which he somewhat indignantly asked, "Why did you run into me? Did you not see where you were going?"

One replied, "We're sorry, but we were chasing after you. We're new to this game and guessed from your movements that you were a beta tester, and we were wondering if you could teach us about the game."

Ken was surprised that they had deduced his status solely from his purposeful movements, and appraised them in an entirely new light.

On the left was a female, approximately 5' 8", dressed in a green outfit with white highlights, with plain brown hair and eyes, with a shy personality whilst on the right was another female of a much shorter stature, barely passing 5', in a maroon ensemble with red outlines. Her eyes were of the same hue as her clothes whilst her hair was jet black. The latter was much more outgoing, to the point of being childish, and was the one who had spoken. Their weaponry was an SR-25 sniper rifle and a MP5 submachine gun, respectively.

Ken briefly considered the request. It would cost him some experience and col, but not to the extent that it would be a major hindrance. Besides, teaching would detract from the exceedingly boring task of grinding.

Nodding once, he turned and began walking to the field outside the spawn, motioning for them to follow.

A short walk later, Ken and company had arrived at the mob fields. He took the opportunity to explain the details of the combat system to his companions.

"In Phantom Blade, there are two main classes of weaponry: Energy and Physical. Each of these classes subdivide into categories, such as pistol, sniper, etceterae. Energy weapons focus on lightness and accuracy, whilst physical weaponry focus on fire rate and damage output, but are significantly heavier. Additionally, energy weapons do not require ammunition whilst physical weapons require ammunition to be purchased. Weapons of every type have durability, however, and must be maintained correctly or risk malfunction, or in extreme cases, total destruction. There are also two main combat systems: Sword Skills and Prediction lines. Sword Skills are system-assisted skills that a player can perform which are faster and/or more powerful than unassisted slashes. However, they incur a movement penalty based on the level of the skill. Prediction lines are produced by the system and are a representation of a bullet's path. These will be produced for every shot, with the exception of a sniper's first shot."

Ken broke off there, having encountered a small herd of Feral Boars about fifty metres away that were the basic mob. He went to address the sniper, but realised that in the confusion of crashing into one another, he had neglected to obtain their names.

"Excuse me, but what are your names?" Ken queried of the pair. "I'm Ken."

The two looked at him in brief surprise, before the sniper quietly stated "My name is Sinon" whilst the SMG user replied cheerfully "My name is Yuuki!"

Ken nodded briefly, and turned to Sinon. "Lay down on the ground, and use the scope on the rifle to aim at the herd of boars. You should be able to see a green, pulsing circle. That is what is referred to as a 'Bullet Circle'. Upon firing, your bullet will land somewhere within the circumference of the circle. You should see that the circle is constantly shrinking and expanding."

Sinon briefly nodded her agreement, stating "I see it."

Ken continued, "There are two ways to shrink the circle and hence make your shot more accurate. One is to physically move closer to the target, whilst the other is to slow down your heart rate and breathing. A sniper is meant to be efficient, calculating – the system measures your heart rate and adjusts the circle accordingly. The slower the rate, the more accurate the shot will be. Once the circle is smaller than your target, fire."

"Yuuki, as a submachine gunner, the same basics apply to you as well, but controlling the circle will be harder, due to the fact that you will be extremely mobile in battle and hence have a higher heart rate. It is easier to fire bursts of 3-5 shots that are less well aimed than try to be as accurate as possible, like Sinon. However, do not go full automatic either – long, continued fire expands the circle more than a higher heart rate ever will."

As Ken finished speaking, Sinon fired her rifle. The bullet sliced through the air, slamming straight into the chest of a Feral Boar with an accompanying thunderous report. The remaining three Feral Boars began charging straight at them, determined to avenge the loss of their fallen comrade. Yuuki gasped slightly, suddenly nervous, and barely acknowledged Ken saying that he would take the rightmost two and leave her the one on the left. Yuuki lined the scope on her MP5 with the charging boar however at the last minute panicked and dragged her shots wide of the boar, resulting in it headbutting her onto the ground, in the process reducing Yuuki's health to the yellow zone in her HP bar. At this, Yuuki screamed violently, kicked the boar fully off of her, found it in her crosshairs and unloaded a full magazine's worth of ammunition into it, only stopping once the creature had dissolved into blue particles and she heard the stifled laughter coming from Ken.

"Overkill, but effective, I suppose. Congratulations, you've both killed your first enemies in Phantom Blade Online." Ken stated, laughing the entire time. Yuuki's resultant expression caused him to start howling with laughter, and even Sinon giggled a bit. Eventually, Ken calmed down enough to apologise to Yuuki.

"Alright, now I just need to demonstrate Sword Skills to you two. Although right now you are not sword users, some mobs can and will use Sword Skills in combat, so it is best that you can recognise them."

So saying, he pulled his Long Sword out of its sheath at his waist and began charging a low-level Sword Skill, Horizontal. Ken held his stance until the blade began glowing yellow, then slashed the air in front of him, freezing momentarily.

"As you can see, it was much faster than I could do unassisted, but came with a momentary paralysis. To perform the skill, assume the stance required and hold it. It will be ready to release once the blade of the sword begins glowing a distinctive colour. The duration of paralysis increases with the complexity of the skill."

The trio proceeded to hunt down remaining Feral Boars until it was sunset, in the process each person levelling up two times. There were no drops excepting col, which was disappointing to Yuuki and Sinon but not to Ken, as these were the lowliest of mobs and would not have any item drops.

Tired, yet content, they sat in a field, watching the sunset silently. Rays of orange and gold streaked across the sky, signifying a new beginning, christened in fire.

' _Kayaba Akihiko is a genius. The dichotomy between the real world and this one is clear, but even so this game is just as realistic.'_

Ken's reverie was interrupted by Yuuki.

"Ken, this sounds really silly, but where's the log-out button? I can't find it anywhere."

Surprised, Ken stated "It's at the bottom of your menu. Just open it and scroll to the- oh" as he belatedly realised that Yuuki was indeed correct, there was no log-out button, having checked his own menu.

"That's a major oversight" Sinon commented. "I understand that this is the first day of release and all, and bugs are to be expected, but such an obvious thing as being able to logout?"

Ken agreed. "Ordinarily, I'd call a GM, but right now there's no one answering. They're probably being inundated with calls right now about it."

As Ken finished, a bright blue light surrounded the trio of persons. "A teleport?" Ken wondered out loud. There were Teleport Crystals that could enable this, however they were ridiculously expensive and furthermore could not be obtained in the starting zone. "It must be a forced teleport, considering that no one can teleport on their own right now."

As he finished his train of thought, he saw that he was back in the plaza at the centre of the Town of Beginnings, furthermore, it appeared that all 25,000 players were summoned here as well.

Immediately, a thrum of voices started up, all asking variants of the same question: "What is going on right now?" with varying degrees of emphasis.

Ken began to tell Sinon and Yuuki that he was equally as lost as everyone else, but was interrupted when the sky turned into blood red hexagons, **"SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT"** written clearly on each one.

This was sufficiently unexpected that everyone in the plaza ceased speaking immediately, and watched in silence as the blood coalesced into a humanoid, robed figure, some 20 feet tall.

Ken knew from the beta that the robe was indicative of a GM, but was lost as to why it appeared to have no face.

A voice boomed out from underneath the hood.

 **"Greetings, players, and welcome to my world."**

 _'His world? But, that could only mean one thing – that this man in front of us is none other than-'_

Ken's thoughts were interrupted by the same voice.

 **"I am Kayaba Akihiko, creator of this world and everything in it. As you have already noticed, judging by the numerous calls I've received, the log-out button is eminently missing from your menus. I must inform you that this is not a bug, but a feature of Phantom Blade Online."**

At this pronouncement, every voice in the plaza began speaking, at a much louder volume than before. Reactions of players ranged from disbelief, to anger, despair, shock and acceptance.

 **"Furthermore, should your life points be reduced to zero, you will die in real life as well as in Phantom Blade Online. There is no second chance."**

Compared to now, the plaza was quieter than a mouse. Screaming, crying and swearing all took place, in varying magnitudes of volume and length.

Ken turned around to see the shocked faces of Yuuki and Sinon.

"Could….could he really do that? Make it so that if we die in here, we die in real life?" Yuuki asked in disbelief.

Ken replied sadly, "Unfortunately, yes. The technology in the Nerve Gear is not dissimilar to a microwave. If the limiter is removed, it could easily fry your brain. And even if it was disconnected from a power source, it has its own internal battery, so we can't escape that way. I believe also that if it is forcefully removed, it will trigger the kill-sequence."

His suspicions were quickly confirmed.

 **"Attempts to remove the Nerve Gear will automatically kill you. Unfortunately, despite warnings to the contrary, 1260 players have already been killed by family members or loved ones removing their Nerve Gears. Due to the widespread media coverage occurring now, you may consider yourselves safe from this fate."**

 **"There is one way to escape from this game alive: you must complete it. Progress through each level, and once the final level is completed everyone surviving up until that point will be free to go."**

People began irrationally screaming at Kayaba. "It took the beta testers 2 months to complete 8 levels, and you expect us to complete them all without dying?!" These persons were quickly quieted when Kayaba began speaking again.

 **"Some of you may be wondering, why I have trapped you all in here. The reason is not what you may expect: I simply wanted to create a world unbound from the laws of your own, where your life is literally in your own hands, to do with it as you please. However, to convince you that this is indeed your reality, I have given everyone an item."**

Ken went to his inventory and selected the out-of-place item: a Hand Mirror. Materialising it, he looked at it curiously, before being bathed in white light accompanied by the sound of the item shattering.

Looking back to Sinon and Yuuki, he found….. two strangers?

"Who are you two?" He asked of the pair.

Indignantly, they replied back, "We could ask the same of you!"

Shock flooded his body as he realised that they were Sinon and Yuuki, and hence what the Hand Mirror had done.

Sinon had shrunk a few inches, but otherwise stayed largely the same – _'She must have thought the same thing I did and matched her avatar and real body closely'_ whilst Yuuki became noticeably younger - explaining her childish nature: she really was just a child, after all.

' _If they are Sinon and Yuuki, then the Hand Mirror must revert everyone's appearances back to their real selves! This is what he meant by "reality", we cannot hide behind our avatars!'_

Both of the girls quickly reached the same conclusion as Ken.

"Somehow, the system knows the exact dimensions of our bodies, but how did it get the information?" Yuuki wondered, confused.

"It could have obtained information about our faces when it scanned them as part of the set up for the Nerve Gear, and likewise when we had to calibrate the system by scanning it over our bodies." Ken replied, his mind running through the implications.

Kayaba's voice returned once more.

 **"Thus ends the tutorial of Phantom Blade Online, players. Just remember, this is a game, but it isn't meant to be played."**

The full import of the game's logo – long considered strange by media and players alike – became clear. This was no game. This was reality, where death lurked around every corner.

Spinning, Ken grabbed Yuuki and Sinon's arms, ignoring their cries of protest, and dragged them down into a side alley.

He spoke rapidly, without pause.

"There's 25,000 people in this plaza. Some, undoubtedly, will be too terrified to leave the city. Nevertheless, a great many will leave and try to farm the surrounding areas. We must leave before this happens, or risk getting underleveled as mobs are hunted down on sight for exp and col by thousands of players. There's a village, Horunka, about an hour's journey away, where we can set up base. It has good hunting grounds and beginner quests."

Sinon nodded her agreement, seeing as it was a sensible course of action, but Yuuki remained stationary.

"I hate to say this, Ken and Sinon, but I am the leader of a guild, the Sleeping Knights, and my guildmates are still in the plaza somewhere. I am their leader, and cannot leave them behind."

Ken opened his mouth to argue, but stopped upon seeing the steel in her eyes. Her childish demeanour was gone, and for a moment, she was mature beyond her years. He nodded once. "I understand. However, if you need any help, don't hesitate to message myself or Sinon. Speaking of which, we should add each other as friends, to facilitate this."

The three quickly exchanged information and added each other as friends.

"Ken, thanks for the training you gave me. Without it, we'd be in a really tight spot right now. Thank you for everything."

So saying, Yuuki waved once, then sprinted back to the plaza.

Turning, Ken looked at Sinon.

"Ready?" he asked.

"As I'll ever be." came the reply.

Together, they ran outside the city limits, exterminating any and all Feral Boars that they encountered.

 _'Kayaba Akihiko, I will not just survive in this world. I will prosper, thrive, LIVE. You cannot daunt me, and I will not back down from your challenge! You cannot, nor will not, break me! I. Will. Defy!'_

 **Hey again.**

 **Now that the first chapter's done, would you guys prefer a multi-POV approach or keep it in Ken's POV?**

 **Additionally, any reviews would be much appreciated. As I said before, this is my first fanfiction, so any and all advice is welcome. Especially relating to physical descriptions. I was happy with Ken, but Sinon and Yuuki are just…meh.**

 **Out.**


	2. Revelations

**A/N Hey everyone. Just wanted to let you guys know that my upload schedule is going to be approximately a chapter a week. (Yes, I know. 2 weeks between this one and the first.) This may change in summer.**

 **Without further ado, Chapter 2.**

 **Bold text is indicative of system announcements or an A/N.**

' _Italicized text is indicative of character thoughts.'_

"Quotes indicate regular dialogue."

 **All rights regarding Sword Art Online belong to Reki Kawahara.**

… **...**

 **Phantom Blade Online**

 **Chapter 2: Revelations**

8:00 a.m, November 7th, 2022

Despair was a common theme across the playerbase the morning after Kayaba's announcement.

The thousands of players cooped up in tiny inns collectively went to sleep the night before, secure in their disbelief that their experiences thus far were nothing more than a hallucination and that come morning, they would be released from this prison. Of course, as morning arrived and the players realised they were still trapped, reactions varied wildly, from anger, as persons tried to assault others despite the Safe Zone present, to prayer for deliverance and for forgiveness of sins imagined and real. A third group simply went insane from it, and committed suicide in the belief that they would wake up on the other side. These actions exacerbated the extreme situation the remaining players were in and in some cases encourage further persons to jump. Others experienced utter lethargy and blasé about the whole ordeal, having already given up and accepted their fate. The latter's existence were now defined by the walls surrounding the Town of Beginnings, as to venture outside the walls was tantamount to death.

Yuuki Asuna was a member of said group.

She was under no disillusion that this was not reality now. The announcement had merely stripped her of the will to live, snuffed out her motivation like a candle. Bitterness was left in its wake.

' _How ironic. My first videogame, VR or otherwise, is the one run by a psychopath who wishes to kill everyone play it. Besides that, I didn't even intend to play this game. Kouichiro was the one who purchased the Nerve Gear and PBO, but couldn't use them due to his unexpected business trip. I only entered this game because my brother was away. Fate must hate me, yet somehow I'm glad that he isn't here. I wouldn't want him to die, and I doubt that he could withstand the pressures of this game. It'd likely drive him to suicide.'_

It was true. Kouichiro and Asuna were the children of Shouzo and Kyoko Yuuki, with the former being head of RECTO progress, a major technological firm in the Japanese market and the primary rival to Argus. Due to this, the two had lived a sheltered life, which Kouichiro had thrived in whilst Asuna was stifled by it. Kouichiro had grown accustomed to his need's being taken care of, and would have been crushed by this: the fact that he was responsible for himself, rather than his parents. Logically, then, Asuna should blossom in this environment, away from the demands of her parents and free to act as she pleases without considerations of what is required of her.

Yet this was not the case. Asuna had accepted the situation easily whilst Kouichiro would have vehemently denied it, yet was unable to muster the courage to move forward. Despite her longings to be free from her parents, a greater portion of her still wanted to please them, hence her subservience to their wishes in real life.

' _It's funny, somehow. My only dream -to be free- comes wrapped in a parcel of death. '_

These sentiments were a stark contrast to 12 hours ago.

At that point, Asuna believed that this could be her escape, her new reality, upon logging in. She could live again, ignoring temporarily the demands of the real world. Shocked at the reality of this new world, she had done nothing but explore the Town of Beginnings, not even spending Col on any weapons or items. Those hours between logging on and Kayaba's announcement were the most carefree Asuna had felt in recent memory, as she could experience this new, life-like world as if it were reality.

These feelings were soon crushed.

Amongst the chaos that ensued following Kayaba's departure, Asuna realised immediately that accommodation would be at a premium, sprinted to the closest inn and booked the cheapest room available for 14 days. This cost her over half of her Col, however finances were the last thing on her mind as she simply wanted a place away from the insanity out on the streets. Entering her room, and locking herself in, she promptly began to cry from the sheer absurdity of it all. With her crying, she lost her drive as well, as the tears left behind only apathy.

This left Asuna waiting in her miniscule room, waiting for deliverance, only leaving to buy foods to cook in the inn's ill-equipped kitchen for herself.

So did Asuna's days pass.

…...

Other players felt hopeless, despite having learned skills that would permit them to challenge Phantom Blade Online. Such was the case of Klein.

Klein was an experienced MMO player, having formed close friendships with five other players in various MMO games. These six gamers played through numerous other games as a single unit, forming the guild Fuurinkazan. It was under the expectation that they would play together in Phantom Blade and reform their guild once again that each stood in line and waited to purchase the game, having the misfortune of not getting in the beta test. The members of Fuurinkazan enjoyed roleplaying as samurai warriors, with each one playing a katana-type build. Hence, once Klein had entered the game and formed his character in the image of a samurai of lore, robed in traditional samurai garments coloured a blood red. He immediately rushed to the nearest weapons shop and purchased a basic, cheap Longsword. He didn't know that training the One-Hand Sword skill with a curved sword would unlock the Katana skill at higher ranks, he assumed that they were purchasable.

Immediately, without thought for further preparations or safety, Klein rushed to the mob fields outside the Town of Beginnings, lacking knowledge about the combat systems present in PBO. Due to this, his first encounter with a Feral Boar was, relatively speaking, difficult, with the battle lasting over 5 minutes. This was partially due to Klein not knowing the existence of Sword Skills but also the fact that Klein was a very slow learner. Despite this, he charged onwards, struggling through his first encounters with the Feral Boars with the stubbornness of an ox, ineffectively slashing and stabbing at them until they died. Coincidentally, during a heated battle with two Feral Boars, Klein inadvertently activated a Horizontal skill, killing both boars at once. Surprised, and proud that he was learning the game on his own without aids, he continued killing Feral Boars.

Then the teleport occurred, and Klein's despair began.

Not because he was unsure of his ability to challenge the game, no.

Klein couldn't find his guildmates.

Messages to their usual in-game handles failed to be received, which left Klein only one way to find them: comb through the entire Town of Beginnings, akin to finding five needles in a haystack of 25,000 players. For three days and three nights he continued his thankless task, alone.

He considered giving up and playing the game solo, when he happened upon them in the Grand Market of the Town of Beginnings. Disbelief flooded his body, as he sprinted towards his friends.

"Dale! Issin! Harry! Kunimittz! Dynamm! It's me, Klein! Where were you guys?"

The group collectively turned towards him.

"I've been looking for you guys since this death game started! We need to leave the city now and progress to other areas where there are less people. The hunting grounds around here are used by thousands of people, it's impossible to make money or gain experience levels. Soon, people will begin to monopolise the hunting grounds and exclude others from using it. Staying here will just use up Col as we pay for rooming at a loss, as we can't make money."

Klein abruptly broke off, as he noticed the five in question were unarmed. After a loaded pause, Dynamm softly spoke.

"Klein, we've decided that we're not going to leave the Town of Beginnings…. We don't feel courageous or brave enough to risk our lives out there. Safety is here, which is what matters to us most at this point."

"….So you're saying that you will stay here for the duration of the time in this game? Are you all spineless? We have travelled through numerous MMOs together as a team-no, as a family- but when this bastard Kayaba threatens us with death, you cower away in fear like a bunch of old women! Need I remind you this is a stats-based MMO? Safety -real safety- comes from levelling up your skills to survive. This is a Safe Zone, but by choosing to hide away here you're letting Kayaba win! He wants to break us, torture us! Will you give him that pleasure?"

Shamefully, the group looked at one other, before replying as one:

"Yes, we will."

As the crushing realisation hit Klein, that he'd be journeying through this world alone, his face fell and he turned away from the group, but not before uttering three final words to them:

"You sicken me."

Walking away, Klein realised that the past decade of experience he had was all useless, as it was always with teammates by his side: he must relearn how to fight alone, without backup.

Ironically, as Klein left the Town of Beginnings and began his journey westwards, he realised that he was not going to be playing this game as a samurai. The bushido creed would not be his during this death game, his honour would be upheld alone.

He was a ronin, abandoned by his friends, his guild: he must do what is necessary to survive alone.

…

7:00 p.m, November 6th,2022

Kirito walked through the forests of Horunka, alone. He was completing the Secret Medicine of the Forest quest, armed with a SIG P226 pistol. The Little Nepents he was hunting were prolific, but he was not on a slaughter-type quest but an item-retrieval quest. The item in question was a Nepent Ovule, and the mob that dropped it had a very low spawn rate of. Despite the low spawn rate, Kirito knew the payoff was worth it, as the rewards from the quest, the Anneal Blade would be enough to last him until the fourth floor.

Slicing through the final Nepent, he obtained the Ovule required for the quest completion, and promptly turned back to Horunka.

 _'Hmph. Has nobody been able to make it to Horunka yet? Pathetic. Escaping from this game will be a miracle, judging by the lack of players around. The majority of players are probably still crying in the Town of Beginnings.'_

His reverie was interrupted by the sounds of 6 Little Nepents spawning.

And a voice.

"Oh, so somebody else is doing the Secret Medicine of the Forest quest?"

Kirito glanced at the area the anonymous voice had come from, but no character was visible.

' _He's skilled the Hiding skill, if he's invisible. Despite the knowledge from the beta he has, as he's in Horunka, Hiding is ineffective against monsters that use scent, rather than sight. He must be terrified of death, if he wants to hide from monsters. It won't help him here, though.'_

"..Yes. So?"

"Would you like to team up to do the quest? You were here first, so I'll cede the first Ovule to you. It'll be faster with both of us."

"I'd rather not."

' _He thinks he can duo with me? How cute. And naïve.'_

The anonymous voice returns, floating around the edge of his mind.

"Then, I hope you like death. And know that it was Coper who killed you."

So saying, the anonymous player turned towards the Little Nepents. As Kirito examined them, he noticed all too late that one of them was a similar, rare mob that had an overripe fruit hanging from it rather than the flower. The flower signified the Ovule.

The fruit, however, was a harbinger of death.

On its own, the fruit was harmless. Punctured, however, the fruit would release an aroma that attracted Little Nepents to it, in a large radius of about 500 metres.

Coper proceeded to take his L96A1 rifle and calmly shoot the fruit attached to the Nepent and activate his hiding skill.

Coper hoped that this would aggro 30 mobs, conservatively, on to Kirito. Kirito would die to the monsters and Coper would take the Ovule that he had seen him obtain, hence being able to complete the quest himself without any of the hard work necessary from needing to slay 50+ mobs.

An almost flawless Monster-PK plan.

With one problem.

The Hiding skill would indeed hide the player from mobs tracking it… if their means of hunting were visual. Nepents, however, hunted through scent, causing the Hiding skill to be ineffective.

 _'He didn't take hiding because he was scared, he did it to PK players. Kayaba's world has created killers already, less than a day into the start of this death game. I should remember that. His plan is flawed though.'_

The end result of Coper's oversight was that the mobs' aggro was split evenly between Kirito and Coper. Each had their own difficulties in this situation. Kirito's P226 pistol lacked the firepower to take on numerous enemies at once, whilst Coper's sniper rifle was unwieldy in close quarter, rapid-paced combat.

For the first time in this death game, Kirito was challenged during a fight. As always happened to him, his reflexes and speed increased tenfold whilst the rest of the world fell away, as he focused onto the targets in front of him.

 _'Being stationary in this fight is a death sentence. Their vines are the biggest problem, as they can bind me or corral me where they want me to go. Up close isn't ideal either, as the acid they spit at close range is highly toxic and additionally impairs movement. Closer than 5 metres is a no-go zone, whilst beyond 30 metres my pistol starts being ineffective.'_

Having established his fight parameters, Kirito exploded into action. His heart-rate slowed even as adrenaline flowed through his veins, turning his blood to fire burning through him. Extending his pistol, aiming and firing at the closest target in one smooth motion, he obliterated the target with a burst of bullets.

' _Nearest targets first and conserve ammunition. Run out and you die. 3 bullets per Nepent.'_

Spinning, he vaulted his body backwards over the array of vines converging upon his torso intending to cut him in half, landing upon one knee, extending his arm and spitting death at the oncoming enemies. A distant boom pierced his concentration, alerting him to the fact that Coper was still alive and fighting.

' _Fuck. I thought he'd be dead by now. If we both survive, he'll probably try to kill me outright.'_

A whistling sound snapped him from his train of thought, as death loomed before him. Immediately, he rolled underneath the attack, re-focusing on the gaggle of mobs before him. Four had fallen so far, leaving eleven to deal with.

' _Keep fighting and retreating. Shooting fish in a barrel. Use the trees if necessary.'_

Thanking his training in gymnastics, Kirito hauled himself up the nearest tree branch, using the branches of tress to serve as cover for the vines trying to entangle him. Aiming at the nearest enemy, it exploded in a burst of polygons, whilst his chamber clicked open. Swearing violently, Kirito ejected and threw the empty magazine at the Nepents whilst simultaneously pulling a fresh one from his belt, all the while leaping dexterously from branch to branch as a hail of vines and whips followed him through the canopy.

' _Two magazines left, 24 bullets. I've got 9 enemies left. Need to be creative about this.'_

Swearing again, Kirito swung down from the branch back onto the floor, snapping his body to the right as he fell. Twisting, he lined up his sights parallel to the line of enemies in front of him, and fired across the axis of the line of Nepents. His bullets transfixed them, ripping through consecutive enemies. Although their stopping power was low, their kinetic energy was sufficient to penetrate 3 enemies in a row, killing them all with 6 bullets expended.

' _Excellent, now I have enough bullets for them all.'_

The remaining six mobs attempted to surround Kirito, having learnt from the mistakes of their comrades. Their tactics switched, as they now tried to strategically force Kirito into positions from where he it was progressively harder to escape, using acid pools to corral him as a shepherd dog herds sheep.

' _Adaptive AI? So early on? Lesson noted, Kayaba.'_

The mobs weren't the only ones with fancy footwork, however. Their plan to corral and kill Kirito was fundamentally sound, but they neglected to take into account their own acid pools.

' _Let's see how they deal with friendly fire.'_

As the first mob stepped into an acid pool created by a compatriot, it howled with pain and became noticeably slower. More importantly, it became decidedly aggressive, lashing its vines without care. Kirito dodged these vines with some difficulty, as they were much quicker, even if they were swinging without rhyme or reason. However, the much bulkier and slower Nepents were hit severely, their bodies spilling virtual blood. All six Nepents collectively howled with rage and attacked their comrades, Kirito forgotten. Not that he was out of the woods by a longshot. He was inadvertently caught in the crossfire of the six mobs, able only to dodge without thinking. Caught in this box of thrashing vines and steaming acid, the vertical dimension was the only escape for Kirito. All well and good, but the lowest tree branch was a full 5 metres above the ground. He'd need a way up.

' _I stand on the bodies of my conquered enemies…..staircase?'_

Sprinting through a sudden gap in the vines, he somersaulted his way on top of a Nepent. He put a single bullet through its skull, before leaping across to the next mob. Using it as a springboard, he launched himself up, grabbing the tree branch with his hands and heaved himself onto it. He rested briefly, then centred his sights on the remaining mobs and dispatched the rest of the mobs with a single bullet each, as they had sustained grievous wounds in the preceding melee.

Exhausted, he flopped down onto the branch, breathing heavily. Time slowed as his senses became reattuned to the outside world.

And the red line aimed straight at his chest.

Jumping up, he threw himself to the right as the scream of the bullet raced past his ear and buried itself into the tree directly behind him. Sprinting across the branches, he erratically jinked left and right as the red line of the death trailed after him, stopping occasionally to try and zero in on him. As Kirito approached the branch that Coper was situated on, the bullets inched ever closer to his body, nicking his extremities.

Finally, a mere 3 metres from him, Kirito jumped at the instant Coper fired, straight at his face. Kirito's wrist was already at his waist, pulling and extending his arm.

Time dilated as his eyes narrowed, seeing each individual rotation on the bullet as it inched ever closer to the spot directly between his eyes.

His arm extended fully and intersected the trajectory of the bullet as it approached ruthlessly, without remorse.

A stream of photons burst out, slicing the bullet clean in half.

The momentum of the leap carried the sword forward, bisecting Coper in half.

A burst of particles as Coper dissolved, his existence abruptly ended.

' _That premonition to purchase a Photon Sword saved me.'_

Sighing, Kirito scavenged Coper's items, ironically finding a second Ovule amongst the items.

 _'If only this idiot was a little more patient, he'd have his own Anneal Blade at this point and not be dead right now. His own loss, I suppose. Still, I need to be more careful. This whole situation was avoidable if I'd been more alert and attentive to my surroundings.'_

So thinking, Kirito took the items strewn on the ground and returned to Horunka, exhausted. Little was he aware that the entire scene was recorded on a Recording Crystal by a third individual in the vicinity.

 _'This one should be watched. He has potential.'_

…

 **Hey guys.**

 **First (real) fight scene! How'd I do?**

 **This is likely going to be the only multi-POV chapter in the near future. I didn't feel like doing separate chapters for each character's early experiences.**

 **Also, here's the non-canon stuff you requested, UnkownSoul.**

 **Out.**


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